Fans and Cherryblossoms
by bloodizmyheroin
Summary: For eight years, Sakura has been emotionally dead to the world, her heart stolen by the very person she wanted to give it to most, but will the return of someone dear to her change everything? SasuSaku; Sequel to Sakura's Confession.
1. Splintered Emotions

**When I finshed my oneshot, some of you asked for a sequel. So here it is! I couldn't just leave you hanging, right?**

**Disclaimer: Blah, blah, don't own, blahblah blah. You've heard it all before, so do i really need to say it?****  
**

It's been eight years to the day since that night.

The now 21 year old Haruno Sakura sighed as she stared at the date on her calendar, sitting on her bed. She wrapped her arms tight around her torso as the fault line in her chest rippled sharply. She gripped the silver necklace, Sasuke's final promise to her, and pressed it against her heart. Slowly, the pain began to recede, though it was never fully gone.

A knock on her apartment door startled her out of her tortured thoughts. Quickly, she tucked the necklace into her tank top and hurried to the door. On the other side was Ino, her best friend and former rival for Sasuke's affections.

"Good Morning, Forehead!" She chirped. Now that she was married to Shikamaru, her temperament had mellowed significantly. Although they had outgrown them, the childish nicknames they used to use seemed to have stuck like glue.

"Morning, Pig. What are you doing here?" It was unusual for Ino to be up before midday, especially now that she was expecting.

"Lady Tsunade sent me. She said that we have to get our butts over to her office in an hour. Plus I bought cupcakes!" she smiled, holding up a bulging paper bag. Cupcakes were Ino's latest craving. At first it had been pink jelly beans, then celery, then to Naruto's extreme delight, Miso ramen, and now it was cupcakes. There seemed to be a new food for each month that passed.

"Come in and make yourself at home while I get ready." Sakura motioned for her friend to come in. Ino trotted eagerly over to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards. Sakura rolled her jade green eyes to the ceiling and smiled ruefully before heading off for a shower.

Half an hour later she and Ino were walking in silence through the streets of Konoha, munching on the cupcakes. Sakura had two. Ino had six.

"So are you ever going to tell me where you got that necklace?" Ino asked, suddenly sick of the reigning silence as she munched on her seventh straight dessert. Sakura stiffened and automatically reached up to clutch the pendent hidden under her shirt.

The bubbly blonde gazed quizzically at her friend. So much had changed in eight years. They were both ANBU now, though Ino was on standby. Shikamaru had insisted she take a break from all missions until further notice as soon as he found out about the baby.

Naruto had finally realised his feelings for Hinata, and the two were now engaged, much to the chagrin of Neji (who had stopped being so high and mighty after he almost lost his chance with Tenten to a persistent Lee) and her father, Hiashi. He had demanded she choose between her love for Naruto and her duty to the clan. Of course, Hinata, to the disappointment of her family, decided to give up the title of heir to her younger sister, Hanabi, who had grown into a promising ninja and beautiful young woman, even managing to capture the attention of former Honourable Grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru.

Lady Tsunade and Master Jariya had become an item and were often seen making out in public, usually while intoxicated and often obscenely. They had gotten together after Jariya nearly died on a mission involving the head of the Akatsuki, after which Tsunade had realised she couldn't live without him. Kurenai, who had given birth to Asuma's baby on the six month anniversary of his death, decided to give her son the same name in his honour. Choji, whom Ino and Shikamaru decided to make the godfather of their unborn child, Kiba and Shino had all eventually found there place in the village, too, although Ino didn't talk to the latter two all that much.

As for Sakura...she had changed the most. She had become quiet and introverted, never speaking unless spoken to and only in a hushed voice. All she ever did was study, train, work at the hospital or go on missions, which usually involved being away for weeks to months at a time. And sometimes, Ino would see her sitting on the little stone bench by the village gates, staring at them and fiddling with the strange charm around her neck, as if she was waiting for someone to come home.

"Sakura, I-"

"I don't want to talk about." Sakura cut her off quickly. Ino pouted. She didn't like being interrupted. Usually she would have kept poking and prying until Sakura gave in, but she sensed that was not a good idea, considering her friend now knew the secret to her master's insane strength. Ino wasn't _that_ stupid.

Soon they arrived at Tsunade's office, still walking in silence. They climbed the stairs quickly and entered the small round room where Tsunade was working beneath piles of paper work with books and old, empty sake bottles piled on the desk.

"Sakura, Ino! Glad you could make it." She called, popping out from under all the paper like a jackrabbit.

"Good morning, Lady Tsunade." Greeted Ino, as she and Sakura bowed respectfully in front of the Hokage. "What did you call us for?"

"Ah, yes. Ino, Shikamaru has sent a letter from the Kazekage's office in Suna, telling you that as soon as you receive it, go straight to the hospital with Choji for an ultrasound he scheduled before he left." Ino rolled her eyes playfully. Shikamaru was a first class ANBU Squad Captain, and had gone on an unspecified mission with his team (Naruto, Neji, Rock Lee, and Gaara, whose position as the Kazekage had been filled by his siblings, Kankuro and Temari). They must be finished if they were in Suna, because Gaara had met them here before they left. Why they needed so many in their team was a mystery to Sakura.

"Yes," Ino chuckled, "that sounds like my husband. He worries so much now that I'm pregnant; it's almost become second nature! Thank you Lady Tsunade, I'll go right away." With another respectful bow for Tsunade and a wave goodbye for Sakura, she left for Konoha Memorial Hospital.

Standing in stoic silence, Sakura waited for her sensei to address her. Tsunade quirked one of her perfect eyebrows questioningly at her favourite pupil and smirked.

"What, no hello? Not wondering why I called you down?"

"It's not my place to question your decisions." Sakura responded quietly, her elegant hands clasped in front of her. Tsunade shook her head sadly.

"What's happened to you, Sakura? Why are you always so quiet? What happened to the girl with a fighting spirit set to rival that of Rock Lee and Might Gai?" Sakura hung her head. What _had _happened to the girl she used to be? She knew the answer before she'd even asked the question. The night Sasuke left had changed everything.

Years of waiting had forced her to take on some of his less desirable traits, such as the silence, the stoicism, the fondness for solitude. As soon as he kissed her that night so long ago, she knew he was saying goodbye in the only way he could think of. And as she reflected back on the time before he left, she understood that all the times he had insulted her, called her annoying and weak, it was the only way he knew how to express himself, thanks to a certain S-Class Criminal, Akatsuki brother of his.

"You have to let go." Tsunade's voice broke the silence, gently and motherly. She only wanted the best for her student, even if that included asking her to let go of the one thing she still seemed to care about. Sakura appeared not to have heard her.

"Is there anything else you needed me for, Lady Hokage?" Tsunade sighed. There was no getting through to this girl anymore.

"Yes, we're short staffed at the hospital and I need you to go help out as soon as you can. I've already got Shizune as well as Hinata each working double shifts for the next week until we find help. _I_ can't do it because of all this damn paper work, I have a wedding to plan, not to mention I have to continue with Naruto's Hokage training." Sakura nodded once. She'd almost forgotten that Tsunade and Jariya were getting married in the following spring.

"Of course, I'd be glad to help out. I'll head over straight away." Departing with another polite bow, Sakura hurried over to the hospital. Tsunade took a long, deep swig of sake, shook her head, and went back to her paperwork.

When Sakura arrived at the waiting room, the place was like a mad house. Injured ninja and civilians were lined up on the seats and nurses and doctors alike were running around like headless chickens trying to attend to them all. She sighed, rolling up the sleeves of her white lab coat as she walked headlong into the chaos, tying her long pink hair up into a ponytail with an elastic band. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

15 hours later, Sakura and Hinata were finally free of her duties. Of course Sakura didn't mind helping at the hospital, after all she was a fully trained ANBU Medic, the ninja equivalent to a senior resident, but she had been so out of it lately that when she finished she could barely stand upright.

"God, that was brutal." Hinata moaned, trudging along beside the pink haired kunoichi, her opalescent eyes clouded with fatigue. Sakura could only nod in exhaustion.

As the girls lumbered slowly towards home, Hinata to the house she shared with Naruto and a soon to be eighteen year old Hanabi, and Sakura to her lonely apartment where she would spend another night alone, crying herself to sleep as she did at this time every year, Sakura thought she heard a familiar voice calling for help. She stopped and listened.

"Do you here that?" Sakura asked. Hinata strained to hear whatever it was that had caught her friend's attention. There it was again! It was coming from the gates!

"It sounds like...someone calling for help!"

Pulling on her vast reserves of energy, Sakura sped off for the gates with a grace and agility unmatched throughout the Land of Fire.

"Sakura, WAIT!" Hinata huffed, speeding off into the night after her friend.

They approached the immense gates of Konoha swiftly. The voice, which Sakura now recognised as Naruto, was getting louder.

"Somebody, anybody, please help!" She hopped from rooftop to rooftop with ease, landing in front of the little stone bench on the side walk, Hinata following a split second later.

"LOOK, ITS SAKURA AND HINATA! HELP, PLEASE, HELP!" Naruto, with the help of his team, was pulling a limp looking body through the entry. Neji and Shikamaru had the long arms, riddled with deep, bleeding cuts and Chakra burns, draped around their shoulders, while Lee and Naruto were holding the legs. Every one of them was covered in bruises and gashes, and all looked about ready to drop from exhaustion. Their clothes were ragged, gleaming wetly in the moonlight.

"NARUTO!" Hinata cried, adrenalin speeding through her veins as she ran like the wind towards her fiancé with Sakura close behind. Hinata gasped as Naruto all but collapsed in her arms.

"Oh my God, Naruto...it can't be...is that..." Sakura barley registered her friends shocked words, trailing off in alarm. All she heard was frantic sound of her own heartbeat and the blood in her ears. She stood frozen a few steps back, the hole in her chest where her heart used to be ripped open and throbbing painfully, like someone was drawing a serrated razor blade over the raw edges. She unconsciously slid her hand up to grasp the charm around her neck, holding on for dear life.

For the person in front of her, covered in countless injuries, torn clothes soaked with varying stages of dried and fresh blood, held up by the arms of her friends, was the unconscious figure of the S-Class Criminal, missing ninja, and holder of her shredded heart, Uchiha Sasuke.

**Taa-daa! Second chapter won't be far off. Give me suggestions and constructive criticism, and please no flaming!  
So go on, please review, you know you want to! I'll give you a Sasuke cookie (Warning: Said cookie may already have the head bitten off)!**


	2. What else is there?

Sakura sat in the waiting room with her head in her hands. Sasuke was back...but for how long? He had been so badly injured the surgeons didn't think he would make it.

Sakura had managed to shake off her shock for a moment upon seeing him outside to help her friends get him into the hospital. He briefly came around before the other doctors had wheeled him into surgery.

_Sasuke looked so innocent lying there on the gurney, almost childlike. Sakura refused to let go of his hand until she absolutely had to. She still couldn't believe he was really back._

_As Sakura stood next to him, the crisp sheets already stained with his blood, she saw his eyes begin to roll behind the lids._

"_Sa...kura..." he choked out, his eyes fluttering open._

"_Oh, Sasuke, you're okay!" Sakura was crying with happiness. She felt the tears well up as she blinked, causing a few to escape down her face. Sasuke's trembling hand reached up slowly, brushing weakly against the tear tracks on her cheek._

"_Angels...shouldn't cry..." he murmured before passing out once more._

The doctors had taken him away before she could respond._ Angels shouldn't cry..._ He thought she was an angel? It had been eight years since they'd kissed, but Sakura felt herself reach up and touch her lips lightly, remembering that night as she blushed like a school girl.

"Hey, Sakura." Sakura looked up to see a tired looking Akamichi Choji.

"Hi, Choji. How've you been?" She asked as he sat down next to her.

"Honestly, I've been better. I've been up half the night trying to get Ino to calm down and rest. She's worrying herself sick over Shikamaru and that's not good for her _or_ the baby."

"Is he still in the ICU?" Choji nodded his head.

"They all came out of surgery about ten minutes ago. Tsunade requested they all have private rooms. Ino is in Shikamaru's room right now, sleeping on the bed next to him. Hinata is with Naruto obviously, and Tenten keeps swapping between Neji and Lee. I swear, if that girl doesn't make a decision soon, she's going to burst." Sakura chuckled humourlessly. Tenten had been caught between her former team mates for almost three years now. The problem was that even though she and Neji obviously wanted to be with each other, she was too fond of Lee, who unfortunately had gotten more and more like his beloved Gai Sensei as the years went on, to let him go.

"Dr. Haruno?" Sakura turned her head at the voice, jumping out of her seat when she saw who it was. It was Dr. Kamiya Sango, the head surgeon who had been looking after Sasuke.

"Dr. Kamiya! Is Sasuke alright? What happened to him?" She demanded. Choji had to hold her back from running up and shaking him by his scrubs collar.

"Yes, Uchiha Sasuke is fine. He suffered extensive chakra burns on his hands and arms, as well as bruises and lacerations to eighty percent of his body. He lost a lot of blood, so we gave him a few transfusions, and he's under sedation in the ICU for now. His vitals are stable, but by regular standards, he shouldn't even be alive."

"Can I see him?"

"Well, he's unconscious at the moment, but I don't really see why not."

"Do you want to come, Choji?" Sakura asked, turning back to look at him. Choji shook his head.

"Nah, I'd better go and check on Ino and Shikamaru. Plus, I have a feeling that this might be something you have to do alone. I'll see you later." He said, walking off the way he had come. Sakura turned back to Dr. Kamiya, her face serious.

"Take me to Sasuke." She demanded. Dr. Kamiya simply nodded and motioned for her to follow.

They rode the elevator to the third floor, passing many rooms, both empty and occupied. Sakura was shaking. The fault in her chest rippled sharply with every step. Soon they came to a private room in the ICU. Dr. Kamiya opened the door for Sakura, feeling it wasn't his place to go with her. She thanked him with a small smile and entered the dimly lit room.

There on the bed, twisted up with tubes and wires, nearly all his visible skin covered in gauze and bruises, was Sasuke. Sakura gasped softly. She felt like a child again, small and helpless. Slowly she made her way over to his bedside, silent tears streaming down her face. She sat down on the hard chair next to the bed and, somewhat hesitantly, grasped his large, bandaged hand in hers.

"Oh, Sasuke..." she whispered, sweeping his bangs back from his face, his hair in exactly the same style as it had always been, her fingers lingering on his pale cheek, "What happened to you?"

"_Don't you understand, brother? I did it for you!"_

"_They were only holding you back! Can't you see? This was the only way for you to get stronger!"_

_A flash of speed, a kunai to the aorta..._

_Blood...so much blood..._

_So tired...can't I just close my eyes..._

"_I found him, guys, I found him!"_

_No, don't touch me..._

"_What's he doing? Hey, it's us! We only want to help!"_

_Help...that was how I got in this mess in the first place and now..._

"_He's dead on his feet! How is he still so strong?"_

_Dead...he's dead...Itachi..._

Sasuke awoke, gasping. He flung himself up, disorientated. Where was he? This place seemed familiar. Was it...it was...Konoha Hospital? How did he get here? Naruto and the others must have bought him. Naruto, Shikamaru, Lee, Hyuga, even Gaara...had he really attacked them like that? It was all so fuzzy...although one thing was clear.

Itachi was dead.

Itachi was _dead._

_Itachi _was..._dead_.

As the realisation sunk in, Sasuke felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Suddenly, and for perhaps the first time in nearly fourteen years, Sasuke began to cry. Tears fell in torrents down his face and sobs racked his body.

"My fault...it's all my fault..." he cried, for his family, for Itachi, for himself.

Sakura awoke, slightly disorientated. She must have fallen asleep on Sasuke's bed. Wait...was someone crying? Sakura raised her head, unconsciously running a hand through her long pink hair, and the first thing that caught her eye was, of course, Sasuke, hunched over, shaking and moaning, with tears on his face. Without saying a word, Sakura climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around the Uchiha, holding him as he cried. At first, he stiffened and tried to pull way, but Sakura was unrelenting in her embrace so finally, too tired to resist although he could have been sleeping for days, he allowed her to hug him.

It had been so long since anyone had held him like this and he realised with a start that the only one he had ever allowed to touch him since the massacre was Sakura. The first time had been at Wave, when he had nearly died, then again during the second stage of the Chunin Exam she had stalled his cursed-mark induced bloodlust with her embrace. Finally, after his encounter with Itachi in Tanzaku Town, after Tsunade had healed him, she had been there when he awoke to willingly take him in her arms. And that night, so many years ago, when she had confessed her feelings...

"Sakura..." he whispered, his voice still thick with tears. It was only now that he had stopped his mindless crying that he realised his shoulder was wet and that little tremors were shooting through Sakura's body.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Sasuke. I thought...I thought..." Somehow the roles had switched, and now Sakura was the one in need of comforting. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, her head resting on his chest as she gripped the flimsy hospital gown he wore, as if she were trying to pull herself closer. Eventually, her sobs quieted, and they stayed in the same position for what seemed like an eternity, each reluctant to move.

Sasuke pulled back, his hands on Sakura's shoulders. He ducked his head to her level and grasped her chin in his hand as she tried to look away. Sakura was mesmerized by his dark, bottomless eyes.

"Angel's shouldn't cry." He repeated the first words he had said to her the night before, caressing her soft cheek with his fingertips. Sakura smiled genuinely for the first time in eight years, and a light red blush stained her cheeks. A glint of silver around her neck caught Sasuke's eye. It was the necklace he had given her. Sakura noticed his eyes flick down and half-smiled.

"I kept it." She said, fingering the charm. "And I waited, just like you asked."

"Sakura..." Sasuke mumbled in amazement. He hadn't expected her to keep it. Sure it would have been wonderful if she did, but he would have understood if she had thrown it out.

"Tell me, Sasuke," She asked, suddenly serious, "Did you kill him?" Sasuke knew what she meant without having to say.

"Yes."

"Did he do this to you?" Sakura ran her hands over his gauze covered skin, giving Sasuke chills when she touched uncovered places. There was a long silence where he refused to answer.

"I'll take that as a yes then." She said wryly, tentatively taking his hands in hers. She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, a hesitant smile on her face.

"Sakura, I killed my only remaining family member." Sasuke mumbled, disgusted with himself, "How does that not make you want to run away from me?" Sakura sighed.

"For the same reason I tried to stop you leaving in the first place. I love you, Sasuke. I always have, and I always will. Nothing will ever, _ever _change that." They locked eyes, and Sasuke felt something he never thought he'd feel again. The same strange, warm yearning in his chest he had felt all those years ago. But this time he knew what it was.

"Why? Why do you love me?" he demanded. He needed to know why such a pure and loving angel would want someone like him.

"When we were Genin, I used to run around telling anyone who would listen that someday we'd be together, without even really knowing anything about you. But being on the same team, working together, it let me see the real you. You trained so hard every day to be better, and when you made a mistake you got back up and tried again. I admired you, and I saw a kindred spirit in you that I couldn't see in anyone else. Even when you pushed me away, when you called me weak and annoying, I knew that it was the only way you could express yourself. The only way you knew how. It drove me to be better than I was. Pretty soon, a childish, school girl crush grew into something else and before I knew it, I had fallen for you."

A long silence ensued. Sasuke stared at her, not for the first time noticing the changes in her features. She had certainly...filled out over the past eight years. She had grown her hair long, the way he liked it. At twenty-one, she wasn't a little girl anymore. But it wasn't her outward appearance that drew him. It was her warm, sweet, honest heart that truly made her attractive. She was his other half, the delicate half, the half that had been missing for thirteen years.

"What are you going to do now?" Sakura asked, staring down at their interlocked hands.

"I don't know." He picked the Uchiha crest pendant up in his fingers, twisting it to watch the sunlight glint off its silver back. He read the words there, wondering if she knew what it meant. "My goal has been achieved. I have no purpose in life." Sakura shook her head fervently, her green eyes wide.

"Don't say things like that, Sasuke!" she scolded gently, "Of course you-"

"What else is there, Sakura? My only goal was to kill my brother, and now that I've achieved that, I don't see anything else."

"What about..." Sakura looked down, biting her lip "...reviving your clan? You're of age, Sasuke." She admitted shyly, "There are people we knew from the Academy who have already started families. Take Shikamaru and Ino for example. They've been married two years and are expecting their first child. And Naruto and Hinata are engaged. You can start over, too; wipe the slate clean just like that."

Of course he knew that, it was all he'd been thinking about since he turned eighteen. He just hadn't planned how to tell her when, or if, he came back. Now that he was, and there to stay, he was certain of what he wanted to do. He grasped her chin in his hand again, lifting her head to stare deeply into her fathomless emerald orbs, holding her gaze.

"Sakura, you know I've never been good with words and feelings and things, but I gave you this necklace for a reason. It was my way of making sure you knew...how I felt." Sakura was speechless. Could he really feel the same, even after so long?

"Sasuke I-I don't know what to say, I mean I've been dreaming about this moment for so long, where and when we would be, what we'd be doing, but I never thought that-" Sasuke pressed his lips to hers, silencing her rambling. He pulled back, staring at her.

"You talk too much." He said, before swooping in for another kiss.

Sakura was frozen with shock, but soon melted under his fiery embrace, kissing him back hungrily, like a starved person tasting food for the first time. The heart rate monitor attached to him went wild as she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding them together, seeming to forget that he was injured, although she came back to Earth pretty quick when he pulled back, and groaned in obvious pain.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Sasuke! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, you're just squeezing a bit too tight." He hissed, panting. Sakura but her lip, fighting back a smile, "What are you smiling at?" Sasuke demanded, confused. The medication was making him groggy.

"I was just wondering...was that your way of..." she trailed off suggestively, and he smirked.

"I think it was. Sakura, I-I love you. I want you to marry me. I've wanted to tell you, ask you, for nearly nine years, and now-" Sakura pressed her lips to his, cutting him off. She pulled back, her smile glowing brilliantly as tears of joy streamed down her angelic face.

"You talk too much." She repeated, Sasuke's first genuine smile since the massacre lighting up his handsome features, before she kissed him again.

Outside, Kakashi was leaning against the wall, reading his dirty little book. He was smirking under his mask.

"It's about time." He muttered.


End file.
